Young female sleeping peacefully in her bedroom at night, relaxing

How Good Sleep Can Help Improve Your Overall Health

Sleep is as vital as eating a balanced diet and doing regular exercise when it comes to a person’s health. Getting enough sleep is essential for maintaining optimal health and well-being.

In this post, you can take a look at the health benefits of sleep and learn why it’s essential to make it a priority.

  1. Improves Attention And Concentration

Not sleeping properly can mean that your brain and body don’t function at their best the next day. It’s no surprise that getting a night of good sleep can help in keeping your energy levels up. Plenty of rest can also maintain your attention and keep your mind from wandering throughout the day. 

Getting plenty of good night’s sleep can help you stay focused and sharp all day long. The lack of it could impair your reaction times, risk assessment, and strategic thinking. It makes a good night’s sleep even more important if operating heavy machinery, driving, and decision making are part of your daily routine.

  1. Sleep Helps Reduce Stress

Deep and regular sleep can help in preventing the elevated level of stress hormones in your body, along with the wbtb lucid dreaming technique. The production of these stress hormones is a natural result of the modern world’s fast-paced lifestyles. The lack of good sleep results in stress and anxiety, and one of the factors that significantly influence your sleep quality is your mattress. The one you got at home should fit your needs perfectly. Check out mattress reviews at BedAdvisor.com to help you pick the right one for you.

  1. Higher Body Weight Is Linked To Poor Sleep

Poor sleep and weight gain have a strong link. Short sleep duration is considered as one of the most potent risk factors for obesity. A number of studies reported that people with short sleep duration actually tend to weigh significantly more when compared to those who get adequate sleep every day. Adults and children having short sleep duration were 55% and 89% more likely to develop obesity, respectively, based on the results of one extensive review study.

Numerous factors are believed to mediate the effect of sleep quality on weight gain, including motivation to exercise and hormones. Having said that, getting good sleep is absolutely crucial if you’re trying to lose weight.

  1. Better Calorie Regulation

In relation to gaining weight, getting a good night’s sleep can help an individual consume fewer calories each day. When a person doesn’t sleep long enough, their body’s ability to correctly regulate food intake can be affected. For example, one study found in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America points that sleep patterns of an individual affect the hormones responsible for appetite.

  1. Keeps The Heart Healthy

Waking up too often is believed to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body’s “fight-or-flight” response. As you probably already know, such a response refers to how the body reacts physically to danger. To prepare you for waking up, the sympathetic nervous system also activates the cardiovascular system, increasing your blood pressure. The problem is that the body can’t compensate for the rise in blood pressure if you’re being kept awake very often, and this may cause your level to remain higher than expected. It makes sense why experts believe that a lack of good night’s sleep can increase an individual’s risk of developing coronary heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Having high blood pressure also comes as a significant risk factor for stroke.

Also, the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar becomes disrupted if you’re not getting enough good sleep. Poor sleep quality has been linked to poor insulin resistance and regulation. It can cause an increase in your blood sugar levels, which may end up in diabetes. 

Indeed, if you want to look after your cardiovascular health, you should focus on getting enough good sleep.

  1. Keeps Your Immune System Strong

Sleep gives the body the needed time to rest and repair. It’s one of the reasons why a person feels tired and wants to get more sleep when feeling unwell. A good night’s sleep can help the immune system keep germs at bay and fighting fit. Sleep actually supports the cells and proteins of the immune system to not only detect, but also destroy foreign invaders the body might come into contact with, such as a common cold. Getting proper sleep also helps your immune cells to remember the invaders, so you’re prepared to fight them off if ever you come across the same germs and bugs again.

The Bottom Line

Good sleep is one of the essential pillars of health, along with nutrition and exercise. A person simply can’t achieve optimal health without taking care of their sleep. Getting adequate good night’s sleep may help in preventing excess weight gain, health disease, and many other illnesses.